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Social Movements 123

Group in Britain are not social movements. Nor are religious sects such
as Nichiren Shosh (studied as such by Snow et al., 1980 , in terms of their
recruitment techniques). The unique characteristic of a social movement,
according to Diani, is a collective identity which exceeds the boundaries
of any single group of organization, while nevertheless maintaining a

limited specificity. This definition would seem to be acceptable from

within the terms of both the RMT and NSMT traditions.
Diani ’ s analytic synthesis is useful for the way in which it clearly brings
out the important insights of both the major traditions in the study of
social movements. In particular, it brings out the importance of cultural
politics to both RMT and NSMT. The understanding of social movements
as involving the negotiation of collective identity, the contestation of defi -
nitions and meanings in conflict with other social actors, and social action

carried out in accordance with those shared meanings are all aspects of
cultural politics theorized by both traditions.
However, Diani himself does not entirely acknowledge this importance
insofar as he seems to suppose that some social movements are engaged

only in political action narrowly defined. In this respect, he fails to
acknowledge what NSMT theory has always insisted on, and what the
appropriation of Goffman ’ s ideas on “ framing ” in RMT is designed to

illuminate, that the conflicts in which social movements engage are always,

at the most general level, conflicts over cultural meanings. Social move-
ments are often engaged in activities designed to infl uence governments,
political parties, and policy - makers, and it is possible that some may not
be concerned with politics in this sense but solely with confl icts in civil
society. They are, however, always engaged in the politics of cultural
contestation. It is the understanding of social movements as continually
engaged in cultural politics which makes them so central to contemporary
political sociology.

3.4 Global Social Movements

The assumption of most social movement research has been that mobiliza-
tion, organization, and action take place within a bounded national ter-
ritory, even if they are not necessarily addressed to the nation - state. In
fact, however, social movement networks and exchanges across borders
are not new; the anti - slavery movement, the women ’ s suffrage movement
of the nineteenth century, and the international labor movement were all
involved in campaigns and exchanges which aimed at nation - states but
which were not themselves confined within national borders (Tarrow,